


Lions, Ice Tigers, and Otabears

by Falahime



Series: The Throws Rufus Series [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Kinda Fluffy, M/M, Otabek & Yuri hanging out, Post-Canon, Post-Hamster Extravaganza, Pre-Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 00:14:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9466928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falahime/pseuds/Falahime
Summary: “What—“ Otabek cleared his throat and tried again. “What are they doing?”“Dance battle.” Yuri and Yuuri answered simultaneously, Yuri sounding bored and slightly disgusted while Yuuri sounded…distracted.They sat around one of the tables in the banquet hall for JJ’s wedding reception. Yuri was to Otabek’s left, head in his hand, elbow on the table, disinterested. Yuuri Katsuki was on the other side of Yurio, facing outward.Victor and Mickey were on the pole.Or: a story of a friendship formed around a dislike of pole dancing.





	

“What—“ Otabek cleared his throat and tried again. “What are they doing?”  
  
“Dance battle.” Yuri and Yuuri answered simultaneously, Yuri sounding bored and slightly disgusted while Yuuri sounded…distracted.  
  
They sat around one of the tables in the banquet hall for JJ’s wedding reception. Yuri was to Otabek’s left, head in his hand, elbow on the table, disinterested. Yuuri Katsuki was on the other side of Yurio, facing outward.   
  
Victor and Mickey were on the pole.   
  
“So who was that woman that came in with Mickey?” Chris asked Emil quietly. They stood a bit off to Otabek’s right, watching the so-called dance battle with great interest.  
  
“His date,” Emil said.   
  
Chris’s eyebrows shot up. “His _what?_ ” He covered his mouth with his hand. “Emil, I’m so sorry! Here I thought this was the perfect opportunity—”  
  
Emil shrugged and smiled slightly. “It’s no big deal.” His smile morphed into something more…predatory.  “Besides, she left.”  
  
Chris tsked. “You are a lot more cunning than I ever expected, Emil. You look so sweet and pure but now I’m thinking poor Mickey doesn’t stand a chance.”  
  
Otabek had only a rough idea of what that conversation was about and wished they weren’t having it so close to him because he really didn’t want to know any more.   
  
“Katsudon,” Yuri said, still looking the epitome of boredom, his head now on the table. “Drool. Gross.”  
  
“Oh, thanks,” Yuuri said absentmindedly. He raised a napkin to his face and snapped back to reality when Yuri snickered. “Hey—“ Yuuri started to protest then realized he literally had been drooling. Just a little.  
  
“Yuuri.” Victor had his pants back on, which was more than could be said for Chris, and held out his hand for the shirt Yuuri had kept for him. He leaned in to whisper but loud enough so everyone at the table could hear, “You’re drooling. Did I look delicious?”  
  
“Anything looks delicious to a pig,” Yuri spat.  
  
“Ah, don’t be jealous just because no one wants to see your skinny self out there.” Victor’s eyes flickered to Otabek for a second. _What was that for?_ “We wouldn’t be able to tell who’s the dancer and who’s the pole.”  
  
“Stay there, Mickey, I want to try!” Emil’s voice cut through the tension. He peeled off his shirt and handed his phone to Chris. “Would you take a couple pictures for me?”  
  
Chris smirked. “You’re a wicked man, Emil Nekola. But yes, I’d love to.”  
  
Otabek tried not to look. After his own “dance battle” time, Chris had put a shirt back on. He hadn’t buttoned it but he had at least put it on. The same could not be said for pants. Otabek tried to unobtrusively glance around; maybe he had actually lost them somewhere?  
  
“Victor, you’re a bit sweaty,” Yuuri said nervously. Though there was a free seat to Otabek’s right, across from Yuri, Victor had just plopped down on Yuuri’s lap instead. “You should probably dry off—“  
  
“Or we could just do something to get more sweaty,” Victor smiled, twining his arms around Yuuri’s neck.  
  
“V-Victor!” Yuuri breathed, aghast and…thrilled? He blushed profusely.  
  
“Yuuri,” Victor touched his forehead to Yuuri’s and smirked. “I was talking about taking a sauna. What did you think I was referring to?”  
  
Otabek could see Yuri bristle, his prickly energy almost palpable. “Gross!” He looked to where Mickey and Emil were in the middle of a pole dance battle photo shoot. “Gross!” A glance at Chris, sans pants. “Gross!” He stood up violently, almost knocking his chair over. “I can’t take it anymore!” He stormed out, partygoers hurriedly parting to make way.  
  
“Chasing after him so soon?” Victor purred as Otabek stood.   
  
_I don’t like the way you look at me when you talk about him._ He opened his mouth to say, “We’re sharing a room and he has no sense of direction, so I might as well go back with him” but then decided he didn’t feel like explaining himself. “Yes,” was all he said, and left.  
  
Yuri was right on the outside of the double doors to the giant hall, tying his shoe in an attempt to look like he wasn’t actually waiting to see if Otabek would follow. “What, did you finally get tired of all the grossos too? I swear, everyone today has just been…” he stuck out his tongue and made a pukey face.  
  
“Well, it _is_ a wedding,” Otabek said as they walked back to their room on a higher floor of the hotel.   
  
“So what, you’re saying you like that stuff?” Yuri asked, lip turned up in distaste.  
  
“No. I’m just saying it’s a wedding and it’s…gross by default.” He shrugged. “And I think people get caught up in the energy of it and are a bit…demonstrative.”  
  
They walked in silence for a while. Otabek wondered if he’d said something wrong. Finally, as he was unlocking the door to their room, Yuri mumbled, “Sorry if I ruined your fun. You didn’t have to come back with me. I’m fine alone, y’know.”  
  
Otabek tried not to smile; he didn’t want Yuri to think he was creepy or making fun of him. “I was ready to leave.” _Victor makes me uncomfortable when he’s like that. And it was driving me nuts wondering where Chris’s pants went._ “I…I don’t really like being around a lot of people.”  
  
Yuri grinned and threw his suit coat on the nearest chair. “Yeah, just hanging out is best, right? Now we can pick up where we left off in our game!”   
  
He took the controller Yuri offered him and gave in, smiling a little. “Yeah, hanging out is best.”

  
  
  
“You sure you don’t want to text Victor and see if he and Yuuri want to come to breakfast?” Otabek looked at the menu without really reading it. _Too many choices._  
  
“Blech. No.” Yuri looked at his phone to check the time. “Besides, those two losers won’t be up this early after a night of drinking. And Victor’s old; he needs all the beauty sleep he can get. Probably still won’t save his hair, though.”  
  
Otabek almost choked on his water. The waitress chose that moment to come to their booth and ask if they were ready to order.   
  
“Uh, what would you recommend? Everything looks good and I’m starving so I can’t decide,” Otabek said, still smiling slightly as a result of trying to not to laugh outright at Yuri’s last comment. The waitress leaned in close to point at something on the menu—  
  
“He wants the raspberry crepes,” Yuri said harshly, taking the menu out of Otabek’s hands and handing it to the waitress. Otabek was startled; Yuri had been happily mocking Victor just a second ago, so what..? “I can’t decide between that and the blueberry waffle, so we’ll get one of each and split.” The comment was directed at Otabek but Yuri looked— _glared_ —at the waitress the whole time he spoke.   
  
She blanched at Yuri’s scowl and her eyes flickered to Otabek for just a second before tucking her notepad into her apron pocket. “Raspberry crepes and blueberry waffle.” She fixed her plastic “waitress smile” back to her face. “Got it.”   
  
Making sure she was out of earshot, Otabek looked back at Yuri and raised an eyebrow. “What was—“  
  
“Dude. What was that about?” Yuri hissed. “You gotta like, tone it down or something. I thought she was gonna just sit right in your lap.”  
  
“Tone _what_ down? I just asked her for a recommendation!”  
  
“The manliness is what! And yeah, just asked for a recommendation? Did you not see the fucking hearts in her eyes when you smiled at her? You need to knock that off. Shit’s dangerous.”  
  
“You complain that I look grouchy all the time and now you’re complaining that I smiled?” Otabek was incredulous.  
  
Yuri sighed, clearly exasperated. “I’m just saying. You have some—“ he made a weird shooing-fluttering gesture with his hand, “—crazy mysterious man pheromone crap going on as it is, but then you smile and it’s game over. And I never noticed it before because you only say like three words in your interviews but your voice is like some killer panty tractor beam. You should probably avoid saying more than two sentences at a time.” Yuri pointed at him with a newly-opened straw for emphasis. “I’m just trying to help you because you’re obviously not aware of it. If you aren’t careful one of these girls is just gonna molest you.” He stabbed his straw into his water. “Or maybe more than one. Maybe hordes.” Yuri’s eyes flickered left then right, apparently looking for the hordes.  
  
Otabek blinked, waiting for the punchline. But Yuri’s face was so stern and so serious that Otabek struggled to keep from laughing. Or smiling. _Right. I’m not supposed to smile anymore. Too…dangerous._ The thought about made him snort. “Alright. Got it. Thanks for looking out for me.”  
  
“No problem,” Yuri said, missing Otabek’s dry sarcasm. He sighed and rested his head in his palm, elbow on the table. “Though sometimes I wish I had some of that.”  
  
“Some hordes molesting you or someone looking out for you?”  
  
Yuri scowled at him. “Some manliness!” He huffed. “You look so cool out there skating, all tough and strong and bwam! and like, it’s just power and explosions.” His eyes sparkled with excitement, then dulled as he made a long face, sucking in his cheeks. “I’m just…androgynous.”  
  
“Well, you’re the gold medalist, so you should probably stick with what works and milk it for all it’s worth,” Otabek said drily. _I’m “bwam!”?_  
  
“Stick with androgynous..?” Yuri whined.  
  
“Stick with beautiful,” Otabek said bluntly. “They called you a beautiful monster and while the monster part is totally true—“ he couldn’t help but smile slightly at Yuri’s narrowed eyes, “—the beautiful part is true also. You look like some…” _Fairy? Angel?_ “…otherworldly ethereal creature out there.” The flush of pink on Yuri’s cheeks didn’t go unnoticed. _He’s a little embarrassed but more happy._ _I'm safe._ “So you should probably keep doing what got you a gold rather than trying to imitate a guy that didn’t even medal.”  
  
Yuri looked thoughtful, chewing on his straw. “Well,” he finally said, “I guess if you want to imitate me, I can teach you!”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
In one smooth motion, Yuri grabbed his foot and lifted it high over his head, still seated in the booth. “Let’s make you beautiful, Beka!”  
  
“Let’s not,” Otabek said flatly. “Put your leg away, prima donna, breakfast’s here.” The waitress set their plates on the table and without looking at Otabek made a point of asking Yuri if there was anything else they needed.  “And for the record,” Otabek said quietly after the waitress left, looking at his plate full of half-crepes and half-waffle, “next time you decide to order for me, I prefer protein for breakfast.”  
  
Yuri looked at Otabek, then his plate, then back at Otabek…and just grinned around a mouthful of waffle.

_You’re a beautiful monster, alright._  
  
  
  
  
Yuri stretched as they walked along, looking for a shop that catered to Yuri’s…unique…taste in clothing. _He reminds me so much of a cat when he does that,_ Otabek thought as he tried to watch him without looking like he was watching. _Has he gotten taller? We were only about five centimeters apart before but I think he’s gaining on me. I would like to kiss him before he outgrows me._ Otabek stumbled on a nonexistent rock. _No. Don’t think that. He’s freakin’ sixteen. You sound like a pervert. He’d never talk to you again if he had any clue you thought about shit like this._

“What are you looking at? Do I still have strawberry on my face?” Yuri scrubbed at his mouth with his sleeve.  
  
“Uh,” Otabek’s mind raced. _Oh shit._ “I was just thinking you’ve gotten taller. And wondering if you’re gonna end up taller than I am.” He shrugged, trying to play it cool.   
  
“Let’s see,” was all Yuri said before stepping right into Otabek, chest to chest. _Too close!_ Otabek held his breath as Yuri grinned right in front of his face and looked up slightly. “Ooh, you better watch out, I’m gaining on you! You’re gonna be Little Beka pretty soon!”   
  
Otabek glanced down at those blue eyes and that bright smile and his thought from moments before popped back in his brain.  He’d barely have to lean in to close the distance. _Otabek, don’t do it. You’ll ruin everything—_  
  
“Who the hell is this?” Yuri grumbled, reaching for the vibrating phone in his hoodie pocket. He snickered as he looked at the message, then shoved it away. “Yuuko,” he said, as if that was some kind of explanation. His face lit up. “Y’know, we should try to meet up in Hasetsu next time we have a break. The onsen there really is great. And the food…no wonder Katsuki is fat. And you can meet Yuuko.”  
  
“Yuuko?” Otabek finally asked, trying to sound totally cool and disinterested and not-panicked-at-all.  
  
“Yeah, I met her during Onsen on Ice. She and her husband run the rink there. Her kids are total skating nuts; they’ll be all over you.” Yuri rolled his eyes. "Oh, and watch out, she has a major problem with nosebleeds. So don't stand too close."  
  
 _She and her husband…husband…oh thank god. He doesn’t have a girlfriend and you didn’t almost kiss him and everything is fine and normal._ Otabek suppressed a sigh of relief. “Oh. Cool. Yeah, sounds like fun.” Then he registered the rest of what Yuri was saying. “Wait, you’re talking about staying at Yuuri Katsuki’s place?”  
  
“Well, yeah,” Yuri said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “With any luck, Victor and Yuuri won’t be there. I don’t want to be grossed out on my vacation.” Yuri stopped to appraise a shop window, then decided it wasn’t quite his style and kept walking.  
  
“I thought you three were actually pretty close. You and Katsuki and Victor.”  
  
Yuri’s lip raised in a sneer. “We aren’t close. Victor is like some annoying transient uncle. Which makes Katsudon…” he considered a moment, “like a chubby airhead aunt, I guess?”  
  
“And that’s not close?” Otabek asked skeptically.  
  
“No. They both annoy the hell out of me. I wish they’d make up their minds. Retiring, not retiring. Coaching, not coaching. Marrying, not marrying. I swear, I almost feel sorry for Katsudon for picking such a wishy-washy asshole of a boyfriend but I’m just as mad at him for putting up with it.” Yuri ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “So I have no choice but to beat them both.”  
  
“Wouldn’t that be your plan no matter what?” Otabek asked, following Yuri into a store.  
  
“Mm, probably.” Yuri considered a black t-shirt with silver studs all over, then returned it to the rack. “But they pissed me off so it’s more my plan now.”  
  
“I thought pissed off was just your natural state.” Otabek tried not to cringe as Yuri held up a sweatshirt in front of him, debating how it’d look on Otabek. _Please, Yuri. No._   
  
“Very funny.” Yuri sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he looked straight at Otabek. “Okay, so, you said I was beautiful. Right? You said that? I wasn’t beautiful, I was desperate.” He paused but Otabek didn’t interrupt. “I was so mad before when Katsudon fell apart and I found him bawling in the bathroom. I was so…just so fucking pissed at him. I knew he could do better. So I told him I’d beat him. And after stupid Onsen on Ice…well, I had to win. I was all fired up, I was gonna show Victor he fucked up by choosing that pig and he fucked up by thinking he’s the god of skating or something, and then…” Yuri looked at the floor, confusion plain on his face. “And then, right before my final skate, he says he’s returning and he gives me a hug and I just got the feeling he was begging me to win.”  
  
Otabek’s brow furrowed. “But he’s Katsuki’s coach. Why would he want you to beat him? I’d heard it was supposed to be his last year skating—why wouldn’t Victor want him to get gold?”  
  
Yuri slowly looked up at Otabek, shaking his head slightly. “I don’t know. Everything they’d done for the past eight months depended on that. And sure, I’m not gonna go easy on him, I wanted to beat his ass. And I’m gonna beat Victor too, and make him wish he never had the stupid idea to come back.” The scowl that had formed during his rant softened slightly. “But I don’t know why he didn’t want Katsudon to win.”   
  
“When we saw them the night before the Grand Prix, with those rings…They seemed happy,” Otabek mused. “Victor said those were engagement rings and they’d get married when Katsuki won gold. Does he not want to anymore or something? Did he get cold feet?”  
  
Yuri shrugged, his focus back on clothes. “Remember Katsudon’s press conference? ‘Now that I know what love is and am stronger for it, I’ll prove it to myself with a Grand Prix Final gold medal!’” he mimicked in high-pitched voice. “Looks like you didn’t prove shit. You didn’t prove you were worth Victor being your coach. Didn’t prove it was worth Victor being off for a year. Didn’t prove your ‘love,’” he made air quotes. He glanced at Otabek. “And okay, he was close. Way close. But it was my first year and his last—or supposed to be. And he couldn’t do it. If he couldn't do it then, with his power of loooooove," Yuri stuck out his tongue, "how the hell is he gonna do it when I'm better and you're better and JJ's not giving him a free pass with a giant meltdown and Phichit's leveled up and...” Yuri straightened and nodded his head back toward the door. “I’m too pissed off now to buy anything, let’s go.”  
  
“So yeah,” Yuri resumed talking as they walked. “The only thing I can come up with is that Victor was afraid Katsudon would retire if he got gold—quit while he was on top. I mean, I assumed the same thing. But isn’t it selfish that Victor would rather have him lose and have to stay where Victor can reach him rather than see him win and become someone that doesn’t need him?” Yuri always gestured more when he was worked up about something; people were giving them wide berth on the sidewalk. “So I figure if that’s how they’re gonna be, I’ll just make sure Katsuki never wins gold. They can stay together as losers forever.” He looked over when Otabek didn’t say anything. “What? You think I’m being mean?”  
  
“No,” Otabek said slowly. “But you might not always be at the same events. I don’t know that you can single-handedly stop them.”  
  
“Oh, that’s where you come in,” Yuri said easily.  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“I just have to hope that if I’m not at the same event as one of them, you will be. You can beat them. You have confidence that Katsudon doesn’t and you have stamina and a full head of hair that Victor doesn’t.” He gave Otabek a light pat on the head to prove his point.   
  
“Okay,” Otabek shrugged.   
  
“Really?” Yuri exclaimed.  
  
“Well, yeah.” Otabek ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, I’m trying to win regardless of who I’m against. I always intend to do my best. I can’t let you rub that gold medal in my face forever.” He glanced over to catch Yuri’s smirk. “And if it works out like you plan…well, Victor needs to learn that love isn’t something you can gamble with or set conditions on. And Yuuri needs to learn love isn’t something you have to win to deserve it.”  
  
Yuri stopped and stared at Otabek, squinting a little. “You’re pretty fucking deep.”   
  
Otabek snorted. “I guess one of us has to be.”  
  
“Asshole.” But Yuri was smiling as he said it.  
  
  
  
  
“Wow, look at all this crap!” Yuri exclaimed happily. “It’s like every keychain ever invented is here!”   
  
Otabek looked at the giant wall of trinkets and then at Yuri, who was considering them intently.   
  
“This one!” Yuri snatched one triumphantly. “This one is so you!” He held it up next to Otabek’s face, grinned, then pulled it back where Otabek could see.   
  
“So…me?” It was a small teddy bear. A small teddy bear with a very tiny leather jacket and sunglasses sewn to his head.  
  
“Can’t you see it?” Yuri demanded. “It looks just like when you picked me up in Barcelona on that motorcycle. It’s totally an Otabear.”  
  
Otabek tried not to choke. “Did you say Otabear?”   
  
Yuri ignored it, resuming his hunt for the next keychain. “Oh no,” Otabek grumbled, “if you get to choose the one that’s ‘so me’…then I get to choose—“ he reached for the one that caught his eye a bit higher up. “This one.” He handed it to Yuri for inspection.  
  
“What…” Yuri’s eyes lit up. “What even is this?!”  
  
“It looks like a Hello Kitty and KISS collaboration. See the tongue sticking out? You do that all the time. See how it looks like a demon? You do that all the time too. Maybe not intentionally, but—“ Otabek smirked as Yuri punched him in the arm, still studying the charm intently.   
  
“It’s perfect,” Yuri finally admitted. He stared at the Hello Kitty and the biker teddy keychains in his hands, brow furrowing the longer he stared.  
  
“If you can’t decide, why don’t you get them both?” Otabek suggested.   
  
“No,” Yuri said immediately. But Otabek’s comment had seemingly spurred him to a decision. He shoved the teddy into Otabek’s chest. “You’re gonna buy this one. And I’m gonna buy this one.” He held up Hello Kitty. “And then we’ll swap. Like good luck charms. Like what stupid Victor and Katsudon did.”   
  
Otabek’s eyebrows shot up. “Like Victor and Katsuki?” _I’ve never heard of engagement keychains before._  
  
“No, not like that!” Yuri blushed, realizing the mistake in his phrasing. “Like…” he huffed, trying to think of how to explain. “We won’t always be at the same events, right? So you give me this—“ he took the little bear back from Otabek, “—and before I skate, I look at it and think, ‘Oh, Otabek’s cheering me on.’” He held the bear in front of his nose, facing it toward Otabek, bouncing it back and forth. “Yuri, davai!” he said in falsetto.  
  
Otabek clenched his jaw to keep from blurting, “You’re so cute it hurts.” _Yeah, that wouldn’t go over well._ Instead, “So, then you give me this one? To remind me that you’re cheering for me?”  
  
“Exactly,” Yuri said. He looked at Otabek’s stoic expression, then back to demon Hello Kitty. “Because that reminds you of—“ Otabek. Hello Kitty. Stone-faced Otabek. Demon Hello Kitty. “Reminds you—“ Yuri tried not to smile, but couldn’t. Otabek. Hello Kitty. The more he looked back and forth, the more hilarious it seemed. “Because you’ll look so great with your manly image packing around a Hello Kitty charm to events…” Yuri started giggling uncontrollably at the mental picture. “It fits you so well…” He burst out laughing in the store and couldn’t stop. Every time he tried to compose himself his thoughts went back to Otabek on a motorcycle, Hello Kitty keychain at the ignition. Otabek answering his phone, Hello Kitty dangling as a charm. Otabek going on the ice, looking stern, Hello Kitty in his hand. He could not stop laughing. Otabek was keeping his serious stone-face and Yuri couldn’t handle it. “Ota-Otabek-Beka, don’t—don’t look at me like that, you’re making it worse! I-I'm gonna die!”  
  
Finally Otabek gave in and laughed. “C’mon, that clerk is wondering if you’re having a fit.”   
  
Once Yuri mostly composed himself, they went up to the counter to pay for their respective items. The clerk glanced around and leaned in to whisper, “Can I just say, you two are absolutely adorable together?”  
  
“Oh,” Otabek said, startled. “We’re not—“  
  
“We’re not like that.” Yuri scowled, the effect ruined somewhat by the fact he was still wiping tears from his eyes.  
  
“Oh. Oh!” the clerk exclaimed. “Excuse me, I am so sorry! I just thought…” He looked from Otabek to Yuri. “Well, then.” He scribbled something on a piece of paper and slid it into Yuri’s bag, then handed the bag to him. “Have a super day!”  
  
“What the hell is wrong with everyone?” Yuri grumbled once they were outside. He rummaged in his bag for the paper. “What did he put in here?” He unfolded it and looked at it for a moment. “What is this? Code?”  
  
Otabek looked it over. “It’s his phone number.”  
  
“Why the hell would I want to call that guy? I don’t even know him.”   
  
Otabek silently prayed, _Yakov, please don’t let this kid wander outside alone._ “He’s hitting on you.”  
  
“Huh?” Yuri looked totally confused, then disgusted as he ripped the paper to tiny pieces and threw it angrily in a sidewalk trash can. “What the fuck is wrong with people!”  
  
“I know, right,” Otabek drawled. “You’d think they’d have better taste.”   
  
As Otabek expected, Yuri punched his arm. “Asshole.” He dug Hello Kitty out of the bag and held it out. “You wanna talk about bad taste, at least I’m not the proud recipient of a Hello Kitty keychain that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”   
  
Otabek made a show of considering his own bag. “I dunno…I think I might just keep this one. I prefer bears over cats anyway…”  
  
“That wasn’t the deal!” Yuri jumped on Otabek’s back, trying to wrestle the bag away. _He’s so light._ Otabek tucked his little paper bag against his stomach like he was protecting a football. Yuri started digging, trying to wedge his fingers between Otabek’s stomach and his arms, when he attempted to go in from the side, under the elbow and Otabek—  
made the most interesting and embarrassing squeal and for a moment they both froze.  
  
“Beka,” Yuri said, still half over Otabek’s shoulders and as a result his mouth was way too close to Otabek’s ear, “are you ticklish?”  
  
“…No.”  
  
Otabek couldn’t quite see the shit-eating grin out of the corner of his eye but he knew it was there right before Yuri’s fingers attacked his sides. He crumpled to a more defensive position but it didn’t do any good; now that Yuri had found his weakness, he was relentless. He held out the bag in surrender, tears in his eyes from laughing. “Here! Take it!” He finally just threw the bag at Yuri, who was looming over him looking a little too smug.  
  
“Gah! Be careful with that!” Yuri fumbled it but kept the bag from dropping to the ground. “There’s a rare, one-of-a-kind Otabear in here! It’s irreplacable!”  
  
Otabek raised an eyebrow, still crouched down, hands clamped around him to defend his sides. Yuri tilted his head to the side. “C’mon, we’re even now. We both laughed till we cried.” He held out a slender hand to help Otabek up. Otabek briefly considered just yanking him down to the ground with him. “You gonna stay down there all day or what?”  
  
“Shut up.”  
  
  
  
  
“I kinda like this place! It reminds me a bit of that place we went in Barcelona. Like, you can see the whole city from up here.” Yuri’s arms were wide in his enthusiasm, as if he planned on embracing the Montreal skyline.   
  
After a few days of shopping and gaming and movies and lots of—too much—eating, Otabek had suggested they check out the view on Mont Royal. He felt the need for a little exercise and space and scenery, somewhere away from the danger of tickle attacks in too-public places or the threat of being forced to accept a present of a tiger-print tanktop. To Otabek’s surprise and relief, Yuri seemed excited about the idea, saying it would be cool to “just walk around and hang out.” Otabek didn’t ask how that was technically different from what they’d actually been doing on this trip so far but he’d noticed that Yuri really embraced the concept of “hanging out.” He speculated it was because Yuri didn’t really have other friends so he thought that was a very “friend” thing to do.   
  
_Well, in fairness, I don’t really have other friends either._ Otabek was looking at Yuri’s soft smile in the sunset so he was a moment delayed in following Yuri’s line of sight as his features changed from peaceful to squinting in confusion. “Is that…Emil? And…Mickey? What are they—“ his eyes widened in realization.  
  
A second behind, Otabek recognized what Yuri was staring at and without thinking about it, yanked Yuri back by the collar of his hoodie and clamped a hand on his mouth before he could blurt out any more. Leveraging Yuri against his body— _he really is so light_ —Otabek grabbed him around the waist, turned, and ducked out of sight.  
  
“What the hell, Otabek?” Yuri hissed furiously once they were safely out of hearing.   
  
“That…was something private. Something you didn’t need to interrupt.”  
  
“What the fuck is wrong with everyone.” Despite his language, Yuri’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Is this all anyone thinks about? Being all lovey dovey and bullshit? Victor and Yuuri. JJ and his ugly wife. Chris and everyone. Georgi and anyone. Guang-hong and Leo. Yakov and Lilia. Now Mickey and Emil. That gross waitress and that stupid clerk. Why does everyone want that so bad? Don’t they know that it’s all fake? That no matter what bullshit fluffy crap they say now, sooner or later they’ll leave?” He sniffed. “They’re all such idiots. Don’t they know that opening yourself up just means letting yourself get hurt?”  
  
The pain in Yuri’s voice made Otabek’s heart clench. _Of course. To Yuri, love is just the precursor to abandonment. At some point, everyone he’s cared about has let him down. That’s what he knows. And that’s what he’s afraid of._  
  
“I don’t get it. What’s wrong with just being—“ Yuri’s voice cracked. “Just being.”  
  
“Nothing,” Otabek said softly. “Nothing at all is wrong with that.” He smiled sadly, though Yuri was still facing away and couldn’t see it. “I’ve made my way in this world by ‘just being.’ And you…keep just being you and when someone loves you for that—and they will—you can decide whether you want to let them in.”  
  
“I don’t,” Yuri pouted. “I don’t want to love anyone because then they can’t hurt me. I wanna just be friends with you instead. Just us.” Then, barely audible, “You won’t leave me, right?”  
  
Otabek was pretty sure his heart broke from sadness and burst from happiness simultaneously. “The first thing you said to me after I’d waited years to talk to you was, ‘What’s with you, asshole?’” Otabek smiled. “So if I’m still here after a warm greeting like that, I’d say you’re stuck with me.”   
  
Yuri barked out a laugh that Otabek was pretty sure had tears behind it. Then, “Beka, you can let go now. You’re crushing my ribs.”  
  
Only then did Otabek realize he was still hugging Yuri from behind, never letting go from their awkward escape from busting Emil and Mickey. “Oh, shit. Sorry!” His face was on fire; he hoped the dimming sunset would hide it.  
  
Yuri rubbed at his arm which had been trapped in Otabek’s straitjacket hug and tried to surreptitiously wipe his eyes with his sleeve. He saw Otabek’s concerned look and scowled. “I told you that you were crushing me! You really are like a bear. You don’t know your own strength!”   
  
Otabek smiled and resisted the urge to wipe away a stray tear that Yuri had missed. “Ah, right. I’ll be more careful next time.”   
  
He expected Yuri to give him an angry, “There better not be a next time!” but instead, so softly he barely heard it as Yuri started down the path ahead of him: “Thanks. You better.”  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
Otabek pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket to turn his music off and put his earbuds away before going on the ice. Yuri’s demon kitty avatar dangled from a loop on the case; Otabek tried glaring at it. _I can’t believe I put that on there. But it does remind me of him a lot._ The tongue-out demon face looked back at him. _Too much._  
  
“A text?”  
  
 **Yuri:** Davai!  
  
…And a selfie of Yuri kissing the cheek of a small teddy bear with a very tiny leather jacket and sunglasses sewn to his head.  
  
  
  
It was kind of a shame that after the competition, no one talked about Otabek Altin’s score of a new personal best. Instead they focused only on the fact he’d finally skated with a smile on his face.


End file.
